Photos!

Major setback for my blog: I have run out of photo space apparently.  Which if you have seen any of my previous posts is a problem because they are packed with photos.  So I found a loophole and am uploading them to the below website.  Read the text and the click on this website.  I will put the link on each of my posts, as well.  Thanks for reading and don´t worry, I still have a few more entries to catch you up on my shenanigans!

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=94E0894DC52E5084!108

Thanksgiving!

Today has been a wonderful day!  It was my first Thanksgiving away from my family, and it started out as a stressful day.  After staying up until 6 am with my friend to finish a huge paper (as well as to spend a few hours baking apple pies for today!), I woke up late, which is not the best start to a day.  I was running around, trying to get our jenky oven to work, showering, and then trying to eat with my host family, to which I was late and had to leave before they finished.  It was stressful, but I ended up making it to the bus on time with the help of public transportation.  I decided not to wear my dress to the bus because I dreaded the awkwardness of potential stares or catcalls, but I did intend to look spiffy for our group´s dinner at school tonight.

When I got to school, I found my friends who were stressing over our final paper in the computer lab.  I changed into my Thanksgiving clothes and put the final touches on the paper.  Then my friend and I proceeded to run all over the school searching for our prof because we were carrying the entire class´s papers with us.  We finally had to wait outside of the class he had already begun teaching, but we turned them in and are finished with that class!

Then we went to do some stress-relieving: making hand turkeys for table decorations :)
As all of our host families began arriving, the greetings were given and pictures were taking.  I gave my family the tour of our school because they had never been there, even though you can see it from our apartment!

Before eating, Marietta (our director) gave a speech about how thankful we all were to our families and just in general to be together in Chile.  It was quite cheesy and wonderful at the same time.  Tonight I have really realized how much I love it here, how wonderful all of the people I have gotten to know are, and how much I will miss it.  It is bittersweet to realize that I only have a few weeks left.  I miss everyone from home so much, but I don´t want to leave yet!

The dinner was fabulous, mostly due to the wonderful sides and deserts we brought.  We filled a table with apple pies, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie bars, and more, as well as wild rice soup (a Minnesota tradition which I found delicious), cooked up veggies, and all of the provided Thanksgiving traditional dishes.  It was so nice to share that experience with all of my wonderful friends and our Chilean families.  Had a great night and feel so blessed!

SORRY!

I haven´t blogged in forever, despite good intentions and a great need. It is not for lack of topics because I have five drafts started with things to blog about but no time right now. Finals and presentations, but next monday is my last day of class and then I just have one more test.  Lots to say so stay tuned!